From The Rooftops Down
by BulletBlaze
Summary: Dara and Stiles are just close friends, until they're not. Or, the one with genderbending, rooftops, and recklessness.


**Title from 'Tonight' by Seether. Enjoy, and tell me what you think!  
** _

Despite what most people thought, Stiles was not in love with Lydia Martin. Sure, she'd been the person that helped Stiles through her Lesbian Awakening, and she'd had a crush for a while, but nothing serious.

No one knew who Stiles was actually in love with. Well, she didn't know if it was actually love- it was high school, after all, and nothing was really clear. But something Stiles _was_ sure about was that seeing Dara made her feel all tingly inside, like someone had set off a sparkler in her stomach. And that was a feeling she'd never really had before.

Stiles thought about it a lot, often getting lost in her pondering, sitting in front of her laptop for hours. That's one of the reasons she was so startled by the sound of her window squeaking open and a body swooping through.

The other reason she was so startled was because of who the body belonged to.

"Dara, what the fuck are you doing?!" Stiles hissed. "You do realize my dad's the sheriff, right?!"

Dara straightened up, tugging her sleek leather jacket back into place and running a hand through her long, black hair. Then she leveled Stiles with a stare that dripped with judgment and said, at normal volume, "Yeah, and I also know he left for his shift over an hour ago."

"What, no he hasn't! It's only-" Stiles glanced at her alarm clock, "9:12… Okay, yeah, he did, nevermind."

Dara rolled her eyes in typical Dara fashion before tossing Stiles' jacket at her. "Come on, let's go."

"Wait- excuse me, what?"

"Oh my God," Dara exclaimed, "Hurry up, we're not about to go rob a bank or murder a child, we're just gonna go downtown for a few hours. You'll be back by one at the latest."

Stiles scrubbed a hand through her pixie cut and huffed in aggravation. "Yeah, but why?"

Something in Dara's face changed, and she sunk down onto Stiles' bed. When she spoke, it was softer than before.

"I'm just not in a good mood, and I wanted to hang out with you, okay? I can leave if you want me to…"

Stiles took a moment to bask in the glory of knowing that Dara came to _her_ when she was upset, and then she was pushing out of her chair and shrugging on her hoodie.

"Well, why didn't you just say so? Come on, and let's actually use the door this time."

Stiles caught a glimpse of Dara's soft and grateful face lifting into a slight smile before they were heading out the door and down the stairs.

"So, what did you have planned, exactly?" asked Stiles once they were amid the crowded buildings and dirty alleys.

Dara scuffed her boots against the pavement and shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just some air."

Stiles thought for a moment before snapping her fingers and exclaiming, "I got it! Let's find a roof to hang out on! It'll be great, cause then we can look at the sky, and have space, and not feel like we're about to get mugged."

As Stiles was muttering about which roof to try, she caught Dara peeking at her out of the corner of her eye, another one of those soft smiles gracing her lips.

"How about that one?" Dara pointed to a fire escape in a nearby alley.

Nodding her approval, Stiles grasped Dara's hand in hers and dragged her, sprinting, across the street and into the alley, right up to the ladder, where she dropped Dara's hand with slight reluctance.

Dara brushed passed her and began climbing, Stiles following after. The fire escape led all the way up to the roof, which was pretty large and extremely square. But, it was dry and didn't look too dirty, so Stiles walked to the middle of it and plopped herself down on her back.

She heard Dara make a noise somewhere between a snort and a gag, but she eventually laid back beside Stiles. Their arms were brushing, sending pulses of warmth through the points of contact.

It was after almost twenty minutes of complete silence, the both of them watching the stars, when Dara spoke up.

"My parents are getting divorced."

Stiles sucked in a quiet breath and turned her head to face Dara. The girl's face didn't give anything away, but her resigned tone did.

"Dara, I'm sorry…"

She shrugged, an ironic smile tugging at her mouth. "I've been expecting it. Nothing that bad happened, really. They just… don't love each other anymore. They got married at 18, had kids two years later. They never got to know each other, and now that they have… they realized that they don't like each other as much as they thought they did. All they do is argue, nowadays, and we're all sick of it."

"That's…" Stiles didn't know what to say. She's never experienced having two parents that weren't head-over-heels in love with each other, even though one of them died before she could understand what that meant. "That sucks," was what she settled on. Which was true, it did suck, but it didn't seem adequate.

Dara seemed to know that Stiles was at a loss, because she huffed and mumbled, "It's okay, you don't have to say anything. I just wanted to tell someone. They took a risk when they were young, and it didn't turn out the way they'd hoped. That's on them, I guess."

The two girls laid silent under the stars for a while longer.

Then Stiles whispered, "It was worth it, though. The risk."

Dara turned to Stiles, her face drawn up in confusion. "Divorce was worth the risk?"

"No," Stiles said with confidence. "But you were."

The look Dara gave her was one full of cautioned awe and hope, and Stiles felt how close their faces were- mere inches. She could feel Dara's warm breath on her face, and she never wanted it to end.

So of course that's when Dara shook herself, turning her face back upright with a scoff. "Oh yeah? And what do you know about risks?"

Stiles propped herself up on one elbow, leaning on her side. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked indignantly.

Rolling her eyes, Dara said, "You never do anything risky. Sure, you've gotten in trouble a bunch at school, but it's never on purpose. You're an idiot sometimes, but you're not risky."

Stiles narrowed her eyes. Feeling an idea spark inside, an incredibly _risky_ idea, she pushed herself to her feet and marched over to the edge of the roof, mumbling, "I'll show you risky."

Dara was immediately sat up, a startled and cautious expression on her face. "Stiles, what are you doing?"

"I'm being fucking risky!" Stiles shouted back as she climbed onto the edge of the building.

"Stiles, get down!"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna jump or anything." Stiles looked down at the street below her and saw a few people scattered down the sidewalk. Gathering her courage, Stiles took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and-

"Stiles-!"

"I'm Stiles Stilinski and I'm in love with Dara Hale!"

There was complete quiet the following moment, as if all of Beacon Hills was waiting just as anxiously as Stiles to see what happened next.

They didn't have to wait much longer, because the next second Dara was tugging Stiles back off the edge by her hoodie, steadying her when she stumbled. The girl's face was a mess of expressions and emotions, but her eyes stayed pinched in confusion through it all.

Then they widened as she said, "You idiot," and dragged Stiles closer by fistfuls of her hoodie. Dara then pressed their lips together tightly, leaving no room for doubt.

Stiles' arms wrapped around Dara's neck, keeping them securely against each other for a long time. The kiss was close-mouthed and dry and more than Stiles had ever hoped for.

When Dara pulled away, Stiles let out a whine. But then Dara was smiling, _laughing,_ and mumbling, "I'm Dara Hale and I'm in love with Stiles Stilinski."

Stiles grinned and kissed her again, and again, and again.

Dara didn't get Stiles home until well after one, but neither noticed nor cared. It was time well spent, after all.


End file.
